Archive for December, 2020
Posted by appolus on December 10, 2020
Are you broken are you vanquished and surrendered all the way
Have eyes to see and ears to hear just what the Spirit says
I cannot use a man who’s still standing on his feet
I can only use the man who shall sound a full retreat
Surrendered and broken, humbled and low
Vanquished forever that’s all that I know
When Jesus came in and took all of me
I who was captive, now eternally free
Eternally free, eternally free
I who was captive now eternally free
The day I met my Jesus I was lost and alone
He took me for Himself, no longer my own
I surrendered all, it was no longer me
Belonging now to Jesus broken and set free
Broken and free , broken and free
Belonging now to Jesus, broken and set free.
Now as a broken vessel, His treasure dwells within
And with a heart that’s full of love, no hiding place for sin
Troubles oft surround me yet I am not distressed
For in this full surrender I am truly blessed
I am truly blessed, I am truly blessed
For in this full surrender I am truly blessed
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Posted by appolus on December 9, 2020
Mat 21:44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
The Word of God is immovable, it sits as the cornerstone of all that exists. The arc of our lives must bend towards the Word of God.Time and space itself bends towards the Word. The revealed truth of God establishes the foundations of all existence. In the beginning was the word and God created the heaven and the earth. The spoken word of God calls forth light and the light creates a separation between itself and the darkness. The light of God is still separate from the darkness. And in the end the Word remains and every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
The word of God speaks to the sons and the daughters of light and it calls them to bend. If the arc of your life does not bend towards the word of God then the word of God does not hold sway over your lives. It may intrigue you. It may fascinate you. It may challenge you. You may argue about it and it may be philosophy to you, but if it has not bent you, if your life has not been broken by it and renewed and put back together by it then it does not sit on the throne of your heart. The truly broken shall bend, yet in the end all those who resist and reject the chief cornerstone, that stone shall fall upon them and they shall be ground to powder and be scattered like dust.
Have you been broken? The poor in Spirit are the ones who cry out from the depths of who they are to the One who is high and lifted up. The broken are the ones who cannot even lift their heads in the presence of God. Yet He gently places His hand under their chins and raises up their heads to look at Him. He pierces the souls of the broken and the contrite hearts as they look unto Him, the Author and the Finsher of their faith.
I am broken, I am vanquished, I surrender. Is this your cry? To be broken is to see your flesh for what it is, in the horror of that you will be broken. To be vanquished is to be subdued by a superior force. And in your brokenness you are subdued and you surrender into the hand of God. Do not resist the work of the Holy Spirit in your life and in your circumstances, they are the hammer and the chisel of God. He will shape you.
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Posted by appolus on December 7, 2020
Ecc 1:18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.
The more we know, the more our sorrow increases. Grief follows wisdom and sorrow follows knowledge. True wisdom from God is surely mingled with grief because our spirit resides within flesh. When a wise man hears the foolish speak then he is grieved in his soul. It is said that you cannot put an old head on young shoulders and it is true, yet neither can wisdom prosper in the hearts of the unwise. Only those who truly seek after the Lord can benefit from the wisdom of God.
To know the deep things of God, to have been touched at the very center of your soul with something of the knowledge of God brings with it sorrow. No man can stand in the presence of God and grasp something of His majesty and be filled with his eternal beauty and not suffer upon his return from that place. The world grows dim and dark and exists in shades of grey to the one who has stood in this impenetrable light. The closer we move into the depths of His heart, the harder it is to live in a fallen world.
It is a very good thing to know God more and to move in His wisdom. Yet let us be clear, all attachments of this world will begin to lose their grip upon your soul. And one might say then where lies the problem? To the man or woman who walks only in the Kingdom reality it is no problem, yet for the rest who still has something of this world in them, which is most of us, then sorrow and grief are like two intimate companions.
No one knew sorrow and grief like our Lord knew them. Everything stood before Him, He knew it all. He could see the destruction of Jerusalem and He wept. He could see His own rejection and crucifixion and yet He loved. The greater the knowledge of Him, the greater the cost. The greater the wisdom of God in us the more we share in His grief. And yet all of this is offset by the glory and the joy. In this world knowledge and sorrow are life long companions. Wisdom walks hand in hand with grief. And yet for the joy that is set before us let us endure all things looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith and let us ever come before the throne.
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Posted by appolus on December 6, 2020
Supernatural joy does not come about because of favorable circumstances but rather it comes in the midst of suffering, and not just suffering, but suffering for His sake. All human beings will suffer in their lives. Suffering in and of itself can produce no joy. Yet, to suffer for the sake of Jesus is to bring down or rather raise up the Holy Spirit in our lives. We are raised up to higher ground ahead of the incoming flood. To praise Jesus in the midst of our sufferings is to enter into the fact that He overcame the world. To praise Jesus in the midst of sufferings is to open up the door that leads to glory.
Jesus told us that in this world we would have trouble, but what did He say “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Be of good cheer, meaning to take comfort and be courageous. The scriptures tell us that He spoke these things so that we may have peace in the midst of tribulation. Peace, comfort, courage and joy. This is the state of those who are walking in the Spirit along the narrow path and through the floods and through the fires. Be courageous today my brothers and sisters in Christ, this suffering of yours is not for your destruction but rather for His glory.
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Posted by appolus on December 4, 2020
Who could know that the child who would walk on water
Was also the Lamb being prepared for the slaughter
Who could know that the man who would heal the blind
Would be reviled, rejected, hated and maligned
Who could know that the man who would walk in peace
Was God Himself,the Christ, a living Masterpiece
Who cold know that the man who would heal the lame
Would baptize, not with water, but with a burning flame
Who could know that the One who would turn water into wine
Was also the Branch, the giver of life, Himself the Grapevine
Who could know that the one who would raise men from the dead
Would die Himself with a crown of thorns upon His Holy head
We know that Christ was made in the likeness of man
He humbled Himself that He might fulfill His Father’s plan
He was obedient unto death and would die upon a tree
He would break the chains of hell and death and set the captives free
Who could know that the child lying there in the manger
Would face the wrath of hell itself and overcome all danger
The heavenly choirs of angels knew and sang with all their might
And the shepherds knew down in their hearts on that glorious starry night.
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Posted by appolus on December 4, 2020
1 Cor 6:19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
How many of us know that the Temples of old were magnificently adorned? A rich man’s status lies in his home, his car, his belongings. The richer a man is the more elaborate is his dwelling place. He fills his house with symbols of his wealth . The man of God also decorates his temple, the temple of the Holy Spirit, with riches. His dwelling place will be no less elaborate than the richest men of the earth. He will decorate his temple with the finest gold of unconditional love. His walls are encrusted with the jewels of forgiveness and mercy. His windows are draped with opulent coverings of meekness and humility. Trophies of grace hang on every wall. They are framed with the finest materials of patience and kindness.
Let us ask ourselves this question, do we pursue the riches and the glories of heaven with the same vigor and single-mindedness that men here on earth pursue the treasures of the world? And the treasures that we have attained in Christ, do we protect them with all the resources that we have? Do we value the treasures of our heart in the same way men value their wealth? There is a direct correlation between how much we value something to the lengths we will go to protect it. Guard your hearts brothers and sisters in Christ, for we have an enemy who seeks to steal and destroy what we have.
Share your treasure this day. The more we give our treasures to those who have none, the more our treasures shall increase. The word says “He gives power to the weak and to those who have no might, He strengthens them.” We have been called to empower the weak, to bind the hearts of the brokenhearted, those who are weakened, we come along side and strengthen. We have been called to wipe the tears of those who mourn, to grieve with them. Let us move in Christ brothers and sisters, and know that He that goes before you is He that lies within you.
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Posted by appolus on December 2, 2020
In Psalm 84 we see this verse…..
For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. This word day in the Hebrew is Yom, it quite literally means to be hot, as in the hot hour of the day. Sunrise, sunset, when the sun is high above us in the sky. The golden hours? Moments that pass quickly but while in them and surrounded by them they are warm and golden and unforgettable. Such are our moments in the manifest presence of God. They may be few and far between, they may be fleeting, but the warmth of their memories strengthen us in our inner souls.
A moment. Caught up in the vast expanse yet tenderly held in a warm embrace. Vast and intimate all at the same time. And these moments linger in the depths of our spirits. We remember every word we hear and how they flowed, like each word was a musical note and the song that is played becomes the melody of our heart, our song in the night. Our word from Him spoken into the deep.
So, one day, one moment in His presence is better than a thousand sunrises and more beautiful and inspiriting than a thousand sunsets. In these golden hours on earth where everything is brilliantly illuminated by the rising or the setting sun, we bask in their beauty and warmth. Now imagine a world and your life illuminated by something so vast that it could hold the sun in the psalm of His hand. The sun becomes a mere spark in the presence of our God. This is the source of all that we are. This illumination is life itself.
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Posted by appolus on December 2, 2020
So the Cross is as much a part of the consummation as it is of the initiation, and by its operation in the life as a principle and power the Lord will come for “a people prepared.” This preparation relates to heart condition and not to mental apprehension of prophetic truth. (T.A.Sparks)
A great truth revealed hear by brother Sparks. If all we have is initiation then all we would have is a loveless marriage that was never consummated. In the natural a marriage that is never consummated is grounds for annulment.
There are people who come to the cross because they desire to be saved. They are looking for all the benefits that come from salvation. They want to enjoy the blessings and the grace and the mercy of God. Yet they want no part of the suffering of God. They are quite happy that Jesus picked up His cross but they themselves find the notion of picking up their own cross an offensive one.
There are whole theologies devoted to the notion that since Christ suffered then we do not have to. And it attracts millions of adherents. Cross-less denominations and movements. There can be no consummation with Christ outside of the cross, our cross, willingly taken up. It is as much a part of the genuine saint as is the abiding.
As we abide in Him and willingly take up our crosses daily, then we get to “know,” the truth. Joseph did not “know,” Mary until after Jesus was born. Know, in this context, is the Biblical word for intimacy between a man and a wife, where they become one flesh. One must “know,’ the Lord spiritually. No one ever wants to hear the words “depart from me you workers of iniquity for I never “knew,” you.
An annulled marriage is erased from a legal perspective, and it declares that the marriage never technically existed and was never valid. Think about that, a marriage that was never consummated and then annulled means that in never actually existed and what did exist was never valid.
Jesus is coming back for a consummated people, a people made ready by “knowing,” and abiding in Jesus. It is indeed a heart condition and has nothing to do with any mental apprehension of a prophetic truth. A mental assent to an abstract prophetic truth in no ways prepares anyone for the fulfillment of that prophecy.
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Posted by appolus on December 2, 2020
John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
All the sins of the world would be laid upon Him. And in the darkest moment of history, one that cannot be imagined, the Father turned His head and looked away. The full horror of hell, now visited upon the one who was one with the Father. And He would suffer our punishment in our place. And in the most agonizing cry ever uttered, Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why has thou forsaken me.” Only when one comes before God for judgment, and then is cast away from His presence, will that one even begin to imagine the horror Jesus suffered for each and every one of us.
The Character of Jesus is higher than the highest heavens. His love and compassion and mercy and obedience are beyond what our feeble minds can comprehend. And since we can only compare with what we know, we can say with full assurance, and still fall pitifully short, that our Saviors love would render the deepest ocean to but a single tear from the Masters eye. The sun that blazes brilliantly in the sky, but a spark compared to our Lords burning passion. The universe and all others combined, smaller than the smallest chamber of His heart. This is the God we serve; this is the Jesus of the Gospels; this is Jesus, God among us. Bow down to Him and enter into the glory.
Have you caught a glimpse of His glory? John writes “We have seen His glory.” Jesus says in John 17 when He is praying for those who would believe in Him “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them.” So the Apostles saw His glory and those who would follow them would be given His glory. Do you have it? Have you stepped into it? Have you slipped behind the veil and been transformed by it? He gave it and promised it for three reasons. Firstly “that they may be one, even as we are one.” He gave us His glory that we may be one as He and His Father are one.
Secondly. “That the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” Unless we walk in the glory and the oneness we cannot be a witness to a dying world that God so loved them that He sent His Son to die for them. Thirdly. That they may “be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory.” The glory leads to the glory. The glory of our Lord Jesus Christ leads to the glory of our heavenly Father where we behold, as Isaiah beheld, the glory of our God who sits upon His throne. And in that we are changed from glory to glory for His glory.
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Posted by appolus on December 1, 2020
I have met two broad categories of professing Christians in my life. One category is very much taken with this world. Their families, their countries, their jobs, their pastors, their church and so on. Listen to them speak. None of it in and of itself is bad, but rather, revealing. For as we know, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The second category consists of people I would say had an “obsession,” with Jesus. He alone is preeminent in their conversation and in their lives. If there is victory in their life they praise Him, if they suffer great loss they commend Him still as the comforter of their soul.
Their love for Jesus is entirely the reason for their existence and circumstances only prove this, whether good or bad. The first category of people are looking for someone to “sort out,” the world. To the second category Jesus has already overcome the world. To the former, Jesus is a means to an end. Much like another group who cried out “we have no king but Caesar,” as they chose the man Barabbas over the King, Jesus. Can you say that given the same choice that you would cry out instead “I have no king but Jesus?” Listen to what a dear brother of mine wrote when responding to that question………
I was overshadowed by the Presence of the Spirit of God.In that moment I felt His deep love rest upon me… an indescribable release and rapture in my spirit, accompanied by a peace and a joy unspeakable that only comes from the Holy Spirit…it felt as if my innocence was completely returned to me in that moment before God, and indeed it was, as the Blood of the Lamb was sprinkled over my sins. It was in that moment, while the Spirit of God was upon me, that I humbly looked up into heaven and I worshiped Him who made the Heavens and the Earth. It was in that moment that I decided that I would love the God of heaven forever…I decided this, and I told Him so.
In that moment I understood the beauty of the Lord, His magnificence and His majesty; I felt my soul knit to the Lord. My soul loves Him above all else in this life, for He is my lot and my portion forever. In that moment I understood Him in the depths of my spirit; I cried out to the one who formed me from the dust of the Earth and I said to Him…I will love you in my heart forever! I made my abode with Him, and He came into my heart and He made His abode with me.
My mind is continually upon Him…His anointing remains with me. I feel His Spirit continually drawing me…and my heart is tender and loves Him above anything else in this world. It is hard to put such things into words because these things are Spirit. I love Him in my very soul; in the very center of my being…I cannot explain it. I extol Him above all things as standing before Him. I yield to your Spirit Lord Jesus, that I should love you in this way. I desire you above the love of women; my soul yearns and thirsts for you; I am born of you.
I choose to love you in my heart, for you are beautiful to me, I love everything about you…your gentleness, your kindness, your long suffering, forgiveness and patience for me, the list goes on and on…Oh to worship you in your beautiful glory, in the beauty of holiness. Oh to behold you…how my soul is transformed into your image as I worship you…Oh to be as you are my Lord and my King. To be like you, to be called your son is the greatest gift and reward of love…to have your beautiful Holy Spirit in my soul changing me into your image. I have no King but Jesus!
My heart is tender and contrite…melted within me by the holy fire of God’s love, as wax before the Flame. Oh how I love and extol the living God of heaven!! Oh how truly pleased I am with Him!! With deepest humility I want to state how grateful I am that the Lord has saved me, and washed me from my sins, and that my name is written down in heaven! With humility of spirit, meekness, un-pretentiousness and modesty, I gladly accept your calling on my life oh love of my soul…with the joy and communion of the Holy Spirit. Your word, your pure and holy word burns within me with indescribable and unquenchable fire and zeal; I love, worship and extol you oh living God of heaven…beyond all else in this life. I have no King but Jesus!”
Brothers and sister, that was a wonderful testimony. It bears the image and the mark of saints I have sought out over my many years walking down the narrow path. I can say amen to everything my brother shared. Indeed I could have written that myself, maybe not as eloquently but with words that would describe every sentiment he expressed. Its the same love for the same Jesus overshadowed by the same Spirit. This is why his beautiful words are so familiar to me. Are they familiar to you? When compared with all the things of this world, where does Jesus stand in your life? Can you say, without a shadow of a doubt “I have no king but Jesus?” If the seat of our affections in the depths of our heart lies anywhere other than Jesus then surely, when the pivotal time comes, we shall be heard to cry “we have no king but Caesar.”
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